Thursday, November 04, 2004

Stick a Fork in This Election

Okay, it's two days after the election and John Kerry hasn't pulled Al Gore's stunt from 2004. Maybe, just maybe, we can trust him to keep his word on this one. John Kerry did the honorable thing here and conceded. There is a caveat to this: doing the honorable thing still doesn't make up for his long record of selling out our armed forces. He poisoned the hearts and minds of the people he once swore to defend against his fellow servicemen. Because of this, I will never consider him worthy to hold office. I suppose he should consider himself lucky that he represents Massachusetts, then.

John Kerry has withdrawn his claim on the Presidency, and George W. Bush has another four years to help us towards an ownership society. We have a war to win against terrorists in Iraq and around the world where we find them. We also have budgets to fix, and with the increases in Republican seats in both the House and Senate, the President must allocate his funds better than in his previous term. We also have terms we must start dictating to some of our wayward friends in Continental Europe, but that's another rant for much, much later.

I know a lot of people aren't happy with this. 48% of those folks who voted would have loved to see President Bush replaced. That's still a minority, though, and that minority will have to reach out to the majority more than the majority will have to reach out to them. As the President said in his press conference this morning, "results matter." Getting 100% consensus is the best option, but if a beneficial result for all can be acheieved without agonizing over it and trying to get everyone to immediately agree, it should be taken. Arguing over processes will do nothing but slow down the actions. Didn't we see that in our 18-month "rush to war?"

Overall, I'm happy with the results of this election. The Republicans expanded their majorities in the House and Senate. George W. Bush is still President. Our nation has bounced back from the mess of 2000. I hope all you folks out there are willing to ride alongside us. Let's keep improving the United States of America.